Abbey-Roads2

Good for some, bad for others. 

So the Motu Propio is expected to be released July 7, 2007 - not to eclipse the Live Earth Concerts, to be sure.  Yet it will be like Christmas in July for some long suffering souls.  Whatever will the Traddies-in-waiting blog about after it’s release?  And what does it all mean?  To use the expression visionaries answer when asked if Our Lady’s warnings are good or bad; “It will be good for some, bad for others.”  Answering the question, what will everyone gossip about now?  One word; “plenty”.

Forgetting about those who are concerned the Novus Ordo will be forced into oblivion - that won’t happen; or the Bishops who fear they won’t have control over the liturgy - they always will; there are a myriad of Traditionalists who will have plenty to discuss and keep the liturgical debate hot and heavy.  The discussions, anticipation, impatience, speculations, and everything else that has been tossed around for all this time, aside from making some people look stupid, always comes down to this:  Wait and read the document and remain obedient to your Bishop.

The kalaidesope of Traditionalism. 

I’m not here to write about the MP.  My purpose here is to offer a glimpse into the labyrinth of Catholic Traditionalism - it isn’t an exhaustive list to be sure - just listing a few of the principal groups.  Although some Trads, like angels, are a species unto themselves.

The List:

Traditional Catholics:  The majority accept the Novus Ordo as a valid Mass, and will attend if they have to do so, but they prefer the Tridentine rite Mass and sacraments, etc..  Among this group are people who are highly suspicious of Vatican II, though accepting it, some remain dubious it was an infallible Council - the arguments are many and varied - however, they definitely accept the current reigning Pontiff and hierarchy as legitimate.   Some harbor reservations that the reforms of Vatican II led to the abuse and crises in the Church as regards liturgy and vocation issues.  A few resent the reforms and revisions to the Roman Missal under Pius XII and John XXIII as well.  All in all, they are perfectly good, balanced Catholics, in complete conformity with the teachings of the Church and perfectly obedient to their Bishops.

Rad-Trad:  This group often out and out refuse to accept the changes “perpetrated” by Vatican II, especially as regards the Mass, although they remain obedient to their Bishops and the Pope.  Many tend to regard all the reforms of Vatican II as the triumph of Modernism, so vehemently condemned by previous Popes, most notably Pius X.  They pretty much hold suspect much of the theological thought after 1960.  (I sure can’t hold that against them.)  These faithful souls would be some of the last people on earth willing to support the canonization of John Paul II, who definitely was not “great” in their eyes.  They remain, to be sure, faithful and devout Catholics nonetheless.

Feeneyites:  This is a complex division - overlooking the fact they carry a lot of baggage, within this group you can have all sorts of Trads, yet the one outstanding characteristic of Feeneyism is their tenacious hold onto the literal understanding of Catholic teaching;”There is no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church” - no if’s, and’s, or but’s.  Feeney was excommunicated by Pius XII, but the excommunication was lifted shortly before he died by Paul VI.  (I wonder if it was the real Paul VI?)  Anyway, Feeney was known to be extremely antisemitic, yet his followers sometimes will dispute that.  The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary are Feeneyites.  Feeneyites profess fidelity to the current reigning Pontiff and are in good standing within the Roman Catholic Church.

The groups briefly described above all enjoy union with the Roman Catholic Church and remain in good standing with the hierarchy.  Many, many good people consider themselves Traditionalists, and seem to be very holy people.  Their conscientious fidelity to the perennial teachings of the Church and Her tradition is invaluable to the body of Christ.  Within the Traditional movement, as I mentioned, exist a variety of personal beliefs which really cannot be sufficiently categorized by these brief generalizations.

Schismatics.

I won’t deal with these, except to list a couple of the groups briefly:

Sedevacantists:  The Chair of Peter is empty - Benedict is not a true Pope, no one has been since Pius XII.  This group, hardly unified, can be broken down into various sub-groups, too numerous to mention.  Within this classification are many dueling factions - it’s a mess - sometimes brilliant people, as well as arguments - but watch out!

Lefebvrism:  This is the SSPX-ers who are/are not in schism, depending which way the wind blows.  Some suspect the Motu Proprio was to placate them.  Not so much.  It would take a lot to make them happy, after all, most of them are more Catholic than the Pope.  That is a tough one to beat.

This has simply been my offering of a glimpse into the Trad Labyrinth - as I understand it - which is a complicated garden of Roman Catholicism - very beautiful indeed, but not all of the paths lead to Rome.  In itself, The Motu Proprio will do little to unify these groups, and please note,  I haven’t even included the progressivists on the other side of this divide - but that is because I consider myself to be a traditional Roman Catholic.  (And yet I like a well celebrated Novus Ordo Mass - go figure.)